Handheld water drill and method
AssigneeVermeer Manufacturing Company
InventorsThor Anderson, Logan Peters
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A water drilling system includes a handheld wand having a handle portion and a distal tip. A hose connects the handheld wand to a pressurized water source. The handheld wand is controllable to selectively discharge pressurized water from a nozzle at the distal tip. A non-metallic hollow shaft of the handheld wand is configured to be thrust into ground soil. The hollow shaft extends between the handle portion and the distal tip, and the hollow shaft has an outside diameter less than an outside diameter of the distal tip.
Claims21
A water drilling system comprising:
- a handheld wand having a handle portion and a distal tip;
- a pressurized water source;
- and
- a hose connecting the handheld wand and the pressurized water source,
- wherein the handheld wand is controllable to selectively discharge pressurized water from a nozzle at the distal tip,
- wherein a non-metallic hollow shaft of the handheld wand is configured to be thrust into ground soil, the hollow shaft extending between the handle portion and the distal tip, the hollow shaft having an outside diameter less than an outside diameter of the distal tip,
- wherein the outside diameter of the hollow shaft is no more than about 19 mm (0.75 in), and
- wherein the distal tip is formed solely by the nozzle, and a ratio of the outside diameter of the distal tip to the outside diameter of the hollow shaft is at least 1.1 and not more than 2.0.
A method of operating a water drilling system comprising:
- connecting a hose to a handheld wand having a handle portion and a distal tip, the hose supplying pressurized water into the handheld wand;
- operating a trigger at the handle portion to selectively discharge the pressurized water from a nozzle that solely forms the distal tip, wherein the pressurized water is conveyed through a non-metallic hollow shaft that connects the handle portion and the distal tip, the hollow shaft having an outside diameter that is no more than about 19 mm (0.75 in) and is less than an outside diameter of the distal tip, and a ratio of the outside diameter of the distal tip to the outside diameter of the hollow shaft is at least 1.1 and not more than 2.0;
- and
- while operating the trigger, thrusting the distal tip and the hollow shaft of the handheld wand into the ground, and probing to locate an underground utility by contact therewith during the thrusting.
A method of operating a water drilling system comprising:
- connecting a hose to a handheld wand having a handle portion and a distal tip, the hose supplying pressurized water into the handheld wand;
- operating a trigger at the handle portion to selectively discharge the pressurized water from a nozzle at the distal tip, wherein the pressurized water is conveyed through a non-metallic hollow shaft that connects the handle portion and the distal tip;
- and
- while operating the trigger, thrusting the distal tip and the hollow shaft of the handheld wand into the ground,
- wherein thrusting the distal tip and the hollow shaft of the handheld wand into the ground includes boring horizontally from an entrance pit to an exit pit for installation of an underground utility.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.